I have officially passed the 3 week mark here. I can't believe it. I think this probably means I should figure out my next move......I am technically scheduled to fly back to the US on November 20th. With my tourist visa I am allowed to be here for 3 months at a time. My 3 months would be up at the end of November. I am allowed to apply for an extension. The largest extension I could ask for this time around would be to extend my stay for another 2 1/2 months because that plus this 3 month stay and my inital 2 week stay would total the 6 months per year that I am allowed to be here. Just because I CAN extend my stay for 2 1/2 months doesnt mean I will. First of all I want to be home for Christmas. I can't imagine not spending Christmas with my family! (not to mention they may disown me if that were to happen) But not only that, if I extend it for the full time then I would have to fly home in Feb. and I wouldn't be able to come back for a few months when it will be a full year since I first traveled here and my visa will renew itself. So much to think over!!
1. Extend my stay into December and fly home for Christmas and stay in the US for an undecided amount of time
2. Leave it as it is and flyback November 20th and stay home for what? 1 1/2 months? 2?
There are obviously many more options (go home and stay for a much longer time, go home and stay home, etc...) but these are not options I want to think about. I do know that whatever I choose I need to make a decision soon because if I do need to apply for an extension I dont know how long that will take. Of course when I ask Edi for his input it is met with what seems to be the typical Brazilian laid-back attitude "We'll figure it out." "Don't worry about it right now." Well I HAVE to worry about it right now. Soon right now will be 2 months from now. I am a planner and I need to know my next step. Not to mention the $$ it is going to cost to come back.... I know that I can work when i go home for however long that is. UNO has told me I'm welcome to come back and I can always go work with my mom like the good old days! Not only will I have to make $ to pay for another ticket but I will need to continue to pay my monthly bills (loans) and my money will pretty much have run out by the time I get back. HOPEFULLY my next trip here I would be able to get a job somewhere to make a little $$ while I am in Brazil. That would help immensely! Honestly, don't mind me. I am just thinking ut loud and it is nice to have my options written down in front of my face. I will obviously keep you all posted on what I decide to do!!
On to the more exciting things! Ana Paula has taught Edi's mom to say "Let's Go!" in English to me so whenever she wants us to go somewhere she say "Let's Go Ana!" (Ana Paula's house) or "Let's Go Shopping!" (Let's go to the mall) or the other day she said "Let's Go Escola!" (Lets go to school!) I figured, why not? I was curious to see if the schools here were any different. It was like 5:30pm so I figured she was going to a parent/teacher conference of something. I figured it would be her and a teacher and me. The school is within walking distance so we walked there and we walked up to the second floor (not surprisingly the schools are pretty much the same, including the ever present writing on desks by students. Hearts, names, etc....) and we entered a classroom and I stood frozen the spot. There were about 20 people in the room. 6 students with their parents and a line of teachers at the front of the classroom. My first instinct was to run in the other direction. I had horrifying visions that they were going to go around the room saying "Hello, my name is _____, I am from ______, and my favorite hobby is ______." and I was not interested in partaking. Trying in front of Edi's family is one thing (which I have been doing much more of lately!) but I was certain I would be ridiculed by a room of 14 year olds. I was scared to death. But I pushed though my fear and took a seat next to Arlete and PHEW! thankfully this WAS a student teacher conference they just do it a little differently. They were doing this in small groups. Very efficient. So I sat and listened as usual and at the end of the meeting, Biel told his foreign language teacher (english!) that I am from the United States. I thought, "Cool!" maybe I would be able to have a stimulating conversation in English with this woman who must clearly be fluent! She didn't really respnd when they told her where I was from. Finally when we were all leaving and she was right in front of me so she couldnt really get away she said to me "It very hot here for you today?" ........ I was surprised. I thought of my high school Spanish teacher and how he was maybe not a perfect person, but his Spanish was impeccable. I was quite taken aback. Then the more I thought about it I realized that it is middle school and I remember my middle school Spanish teacher being less than competent in her field. So I guess I am not that surprised. Maybe the high school teacher has a better english background. And on the bright side, maybe I can be an English teacher at the middle school here sometime in the future!! haha
One of Edi's cousins who lived with Edi in NH has opened a pizzaria here in Brazil. It has only been open a few months but it seems like business is good. He had a BBQ at his pizzaria yesterday for Edi's family/friends. There was a futebol game on and the usual gang was there. It was a lot of fun as usual and everytime I hang out with these people I learn a little bit more and I feel a little bit more comfortable. A few people came back to Edi's house afterwards and we hung out outside playing music, drinking, whatever. It came to a screeching halt when two people had a little too much to drink and they started to fight. Edi brought one of them home and the other stayed on the couch here. Same old story, too much beer, people take things to heart, names are called, etc, etc... No harm done other than waking Edi's sleeping parents up. All is forgiven in the morning.
Oh ya! We went to a BBQ on Sat. too. The same friends of Edi's sister that we all went to dinner with a couple of weeks ago. It was a much smaller, intimate setting. There were about 10 of us all together. Music, dancing, laughing and BBQing per usual. Everyone is so happy here most of the time. It's great!
That about does it for today. Peace and grease!!
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